#obsjieun

On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur — We see well only with the heart  @obsjieun ⚘

“Please do something...! Please help her,” Jimin begged; pleading with dignified professionals who would obviously do everything they could to help the girl laying between them. She looked so pale, so still, barely clinging to life. Jimin clung to the rail of her gurney as it rattled through sterile hallways, knuckles white; as if his holding on tighter would somehow help her. “Please,” he repeated, locking eyes with one of the nurses. Seeing desperation like this, a person who felt truly helpless, it was painful every time. It didn’t help that there was nothing he could offer; not his life, not his soul. It wasn’t Death itself staring back at him; just a woman.

They were kind to him; patient. “We’ll do everything we can. You’ve helped a lot already, Officer Park. We can take it from here,” a doctor spoke up as he placed his hand on Jimin’s forearm. 

“You need to let go now.” 

Jimin looked toward the doctor, reluctant to leave her side. He’d already screwed things up once and this had happened. “I can’t.” He looked back at her and he gasped when her eyelids fluttered. “Jieun!” he exclaimed, squeezing the icy little hand that he clutched in one of his. “Jieun-”

“Is she your girlfriend?”

Jimin couldn’t tear his eyes away, willing her to open hers again. The ambulance had gotten there too slowly and it felt like he’d been running beside the gurney for an eternity. Faces flashed past him and the hospital lights were so bright; blinding. Everything sounded loud and yet he couldn’t hear anything clearly. A firm hand gripped his arm. “What?” he choked out.

“Is she your lover?”

“No...but I-” Jimin gritted his teeth. He couldn’t get the words out. He couldn’t see anymore, tears kept stubbornly rising, welling and clouding his vision. He needed to be strong and hold it together. He had to be strong so that Jieun would live. Another firm hand weighed down on his shoulder. At some point, security had been alerted that there was one person who didn’t belong in this scenario. They’d come to remove him.

“Is she your lover?”

Jimin felt his grip slipping, tears spilling. 

“No, but I love her. I love her.”

i’m truly flattered, but my heart belongs to @obsbam​ and @obsjieun​. at the same time.

@obsjieun​

[...]

“I’ll tell my manager you like the herbs then,” she muttered. Truthfully, it was Jieun who took care of all the herbs. But she was too flustered by his compliment to accept it. Slowly and deliberately she took a sip.

It was incredibly refreshing. She smiled to herself. All of the flavors blended well together and had a distinctly “summer” vibe to them. It was the kind of drink you want to enjoy by the pool or with friends on a summer evening.

She spluttered. “No, no I simply must pay for it!” she protested, reaching for her purse. “It is really fantastic, I can’t accept it without payment. It’s a really perfect summer drink,” she added.

When she took the drink from him in exchange for the package, he quietly eyed the gift. Cris could identity its contents from scent alone, without even having to open it. It reminded him of the forest and the fields, a smell that comforted him due to his origins as a werelion. Another reason why he enjoyed the woman's company so much. She was a walking field. "Thank you." He commented, taking some of the plants out, to put up some fresh decorations. "You always bring the perfect gifts."

Putting the bag aside to store them for later, he turned to her once more and smiled. The employees at her shop were always nice to him and his restaurant, a gesture he figured free food and drinks could serve as compensation. But gestures aside, he had really grown to enjoy Sage's company. Although he still had some fears of even her getting too close. 

Watching her reaction, he couldn't help but chuckle at her delight. With her approval, he would have no problem in serving it to the other customers now. All he needed to do was train the rest of his staff on the recipe. As soon as she began to reach for her purse, Cris quickly reached over the bar and rested his hand on hers. "No worries." He said, gently bringing her palms to rest on the bar again. "Really its my treat. I don't want you scrambling to have to pay for this." Returning his hands back to his sides, he smiled at her reassuringly before turning to the register. Quickly putting in an order, he figured he could give her some appetizers to make her trip to the restaurant worthwhile.

@obsjieun

[...]

She took one more deep breath before pushing the door open. Cris was behind the bar, examining a tin container, a half mixed drink waiting forgotten on the counter next to him. She inhaled sharply as she looked at him. It hadn’t been more than a few week since she had seen him last, but her heart was redoubling its pace and she truly thought she might pass out because of its rate. His sleeve of tattoos caught her eye and she sighed in pleasure. He managed to be so effortlessly cool and yet was one of the kindest men she had ever met. The perfect combination. She desperately wished she wasn’t so lame and awkward and well… so distinctly earthy. That wasn’t the kind of girl he would go for. He must like the type of girl who wore dark lipstick, fishnets and leather jackets with a mini dress. The type of girl who smoked and looked like she could break every bone in your body.

The ‘cool’ type, in Jieun’s mind.

Jieun, with her wire-rimmed glasses and sweaters look would never be his type. One time she had tried on the whole ‘badass’ look in a store and had found the whole image so unpleasant on her that she had started crying, which really ruined the look.

“Delivery,” she said quietly, just loud enough to be heard over the white noise of the restaurant. She held the package up so that it obscured her upper half from his view and closed her eyes, waiting.

The sound of her voice surprised him, especially since he was just thinking about her. It was almost like some sort of magic or something. She had grown to be such a reassuring presence. "Sage." Cris said simply, and happily, recognizing her even from behind the bag. It was something about her voice, it calmed him. "Welcome back to Pride Rock." Taking some mint from the tin, he muddled it into a glass before grabbing the other. He had almost forgot about amidst his memories but at least he had a taste tester now. And it would have some of the herbs she had given him.

"What do you have there?" He asked in regards to her package. She always brought little gifts, a kindness the man appreciated, but made him very nervous. Not because it was her. Sage was wonderful. But because women getting close to him was something that had come to terrify him. Because no matter how nice they seem at first, no matter how perfect their smile is or how beautiful their eyes are, all that can change very suddenly. All in an instant. And if they were your entire world, than what do you have left when it all shatters.

@obsjieun​

[...]

“I’ll be safe,” she assured him, slinging her bag across her bag before lifting the package off the counter. “I don’t work tomorrow so be sure to water the lavender and rotate the mugwort,”

He chuckled, nodding his head as he pushed her towards the door.

“It might surprise you, but I do know how to tend to herbs too, dear. I know you are nervous about seeing him again, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Jieun felt the color rising in her cheeks, and she opened her mouth to protest, but before she could form her retort, he was pushing her out the door.

The ride from the eastern district to the central district was not a long one, which Jieun was both thankful for and upset about. She felt as if the butterflies in her stomach were going to escape if she so much as parted her lips. She closed her eyes, feeling the rattling of the subway, as she tried to calm herself.

As the subway shuttered to a halt, Jieun did her best to position to package comfortably in her arms. It wasn’t necessarily heavy, but it was a bit of a walk to her destination, and she knew her arms would grow tired.

As she turned to the corner and started down the street the restaurant was on, the butterflies redoubled in her stomach.

She just knew she was going to say something terribly stupid.

Today had been another slow day. While there was plenty of business in the afternoon, the crowd has suddenly started to thin out. Maybe today was just going to be one of those days, he told himself pulling up the total number of sales. The numbers weren't as high as they should of been. "Yep, I guess it is." Wiping down the bar, Cris approached his business manager to see who he could send home early for today. Usually he would just go around and ask but he figured he could put that responsibility on him while he experimented a little behind the bar. It was part of the many perks of owning the place, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted to do.

Bringing out a glass and some jugs stored under the marble countertop, Cris was aiming to make a virgin cocktail to chase away the summer heat. He enjoyed adding new things to the menu and it was a business tactic used often to keep the consumers interested. That is if he could just get them inside the restaurant. With his attention still working out a recipe in is head, he absentmindedly reached into the cabinet for his gold cocktail shaker but instead grasped a tin canister he seemed to forget about. 'When did I get this?'